Homosexuality & the African Quaker Church
Lesson Plan
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PowerPoint
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Class Materials
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This lesson on Homosexuality and the African Quaker Church took place on the seventh day of our Major World Religions unit, and was the second day of our focus on “case studies” in modern world religious conflicts. The first week of the unit revolved around the ancient origins and historical developments of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and gave students an understanding of the religions’ interconnected pasts and differing trajectories. This foundation allowed students to approach the unit’s second week about “case studies” in modern world religious conflicts from an informed standpoint, and better able to empathize with both sides. In the previous class, we examined the persecution of Soviet Jewry in the mid-twentieth century and the Jewish community of Sosua, Dominican Republic, established as a result of the Evian Conference in 1938. In this class we also investigated two “case studies” in modern world religious conflicts, building off of student knowledge of the ancient origins of Christianity and Islam, and revisiting the theme of activism discussed in the previous class.
At the start of the lesson, students began by answering three questions in their notes about the NPR interview transcript assigned for homework. The interview between two news correspondents surrounded the recent tensions and violence between Egypt’s Muslims and Coptic Christians. Though all questions could be answered by referencing the NPR interview alone, students’ knowledge of the historic spread of Christianity and Islam helped to ground their understanding of the conflict. After students have had the opportunity to share their answers, we discussed the potential role of international human rights activism in resolving this conflict. We then moved onto the second “case study” in contemporary African Christianity – homosexuality and the African Quaker Church. After introducing Quakerism as the fastest growing Christian sect in Africa, I briefly traced the history of the Religious Society of Friends and outlined the faith’s governing structure, beliefs, and practices. This led into a whole-class conversation about the appeal and challenges of the religion’s communal and localized governance, and lack of singular doctrinal authority. Once students understood these strengths and challenges, I lead into the recent controversy over the acceptance of homosexuality in the Religious Society of Friends. While American, European, and Australian Quaker meetings have gradually approved same-sex relationships and marriages over the past 30 years, Quaker leadership in Kenya has repeatedly touted the opposite viewpoint. As a class we then read and reflected on two documents. The first was an epistle (letter) of well wishes to the World Conference of Friends held in Kenya from the Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns. I explained that this letter was a source of much controversy at the World Conference, as it was repeatedly posted and torn down. The second document was a press release statement from the Friends Church of Kenya strongly condemning homosexuality, made following the 2012 World Conference of Friends. Understanding these two positions, students broke into their “letter groups” and read and analyzed one of three letters from American and English Quakers in response to the Kenyan press release. I emphasized that I wanted students to pay particular attention to the analytical arguments employed to argue an ideological stance. Finally, we came back together as a class and groups shared the arguments articulated in the various Quaker responses, building into a broader discussion of diversity of opinion within a religious community and how much ideological diversity a religious community can tolerate before it fractures.
I was excited to teach this lesson because I knew it would elicit strong emotional reactions and therefore high levels of engagement. While I know that many of my students are very active Christians, I also know that Bookman has a culture of wide acceptance of the LGBTQ community. After reminding students of the class norms we collectively set at the beginning of the unit, I was pleased to see my students discuss this issue passionately and respectfully throughout the lesson. Though I anticipated engagement would be high during our analysis and discussion of the controversy over acceptance of homosexuality in the Quaker faith, I did not anticipate the high level of interest and engagement surrounding Quakerism itself. Despite living in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of American Quakerism, students knew little about the religion and were eager to broaden their horizons. Though I am not a Friend, I attended a Quaker college and have close Quaker family friends, so I was able to answer many of their questions in depth. I think a few major reasons behind students’ interest in Quakerism are its unique take on the Christian faith shared by many of my students, combined with its significance to local history and iconography.
Students’ heightened emotions and engagement in this lesson is best exemplified through a note a student passed in at the end of class. At the start of this Major World Religions unit, I placed a small cardboard box by the door at the back of the class, and explained that it was a place to put questions, comments or concerns that students did not have enough time or did not feel comfortable asking in class. At the end of the first lesson of the unit, I told all students to submit a question, comment or concern in order to normalize the process. Throughout the rest of the semester, students sporadically used the box to address issues or seek out advice both related and unrelated to World History class. Corey is a female student who frequently submitted notes to the box. Corey rarely vocally participates in class; though she is bubbly and animated outside of class, frequently engaging me in conversation about everything form Harry Potter to Tae Kwon Do to our pet cats. After our lesson on homosexuality in the African Quaker Church, Corey submitted this note (“letters” and “rambles,” as she calls them) to the box:
At the start of the lesson, students began by answering three questions in their notes about the NPR interview transcript assigned for homework. The interview between two news correspondents surrounded the recent tensions and violence between Egypt’s Muslims and Coptic Christians. Though all questions could be answered by referencing the NPR interview alone, students’ knowledge of the historic spread of Christianity and Islam helped to ground their understanding of the conflict. After students have had the opportunity to share their answers, we discussed the potential role of international human rights activism in resolving this conflict. We then moved onto the second “case study” in contemporary African Christianity – homosexuality and the African Quaker Church. After introducing Quakerism as the fastest growing Christian sect in Africa, I briefly traced the history of the Religious Society of Friends and outlined the faith’s governing structure, beliefs, and practices. This led into a whole-class conversation about the appeal and challenges of the religion’s communal and localized governance, and lack of singular doctrinal authority. Once students understood these strengths and challenges, I lead into the recent controversy over the acceptance of homosexuality in the Religious Society of Friends. While American, European, and Australian Quaker meetings have gradually approved same-sex relationships and marriages over the past 30 years, Quaker leadership in Kenya has repeatedly touted the opposite viewpoint. As a class we then read and reflected on two documents. The first was an epistle (letter) of well wishes to the World Conference of Friends held in Kenya from the Friends for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Concerns. I explained that this letter was a source of much controversy at the World Conference, as it was repeatedly posted and torn down. The second document was a press release statement from the Friends Church of Kenya strongly condemning homosexuality, made following the 2012 World Conference of Friends. Understanding these two positions, students broke into their “letter groups” and read and analyzed one of three letters from American and English Quakers in response to the Kenyan press release. I emphasized that I wanted students to pay particular attention to the analytical arguments employed to argue an ideological stance. Finally, we came back together as a class and groups shared the arguments articulated in the various Quaker responses, building into a broader discussion of diversity of opinion within a religious community and how much ideological diversity a religious community can tolerate before it fractures.
I was excited to teach this lesson because I knew it would elicit strong emotional reactions and therefore high levels of engagement. While I know that many of my students are very active Christians, I also know that Bookman has a culture of wide acceptance of the LGBTQ community. After reminding students of the class norms we collectively set at the beginning of the unit, I was pleased to see my students discuss this issue passionately and respectfully throughout the lesson. Though I anticipated engagement would be high during our analysis and discussion of the controversy over acceptance of homosexuality in the Quaker faith, I did not anticipate the high level of interest and engagement surrounding Quakerism itself. Despite living in Pennsylvania, the birthplace of American Quakerism, students knew little about the religion and were eager to broaden their horizons. Though I am not a Friend, I attended a Quaker college and have close Quaker family friends, so I was able to answer many of their questions in depth. I think a few major reasons behind students’ interest in Quakerism are its unique take on the Christian faith shared by many of my students, combined with its significance to local history and iconography.
Students’ heightened emotions and engagement in this lesson is best exemplified through a note a student passed in at the end of class. At the start of this Major World Religions unit, I placed a small cardboard box by the door at the back of the class, and explained that it was a place to put questions, comments or concerns that students did not have enough time or did not feel comfortable asking in class. At the end of the first lesson of the unit, I told all students to submit a question, comment or concern in order to normalize the process. Throughout the rest of the semester, students sporadically used the box to address issues or seek out advice both related and unrelated to World History class. Corey is a female student who frequently submitted notes to the box. Corey rarely vocally participates in class; though she is bubbly and animated outside of class, frequently engaging me in conversation about everything form Harry Potter to Tae Kwon Do to our pet cats. After our lesson on homosexuality in the African Quaker Church, Corey submitted this note (“letters” and “rambles,” as she calls them) to the box:
Corey opened her letter by conveying an emotional and physical response to the opinions expressed by the Kenyan Quaker Church leader in his press release statement, that quickly builds into an analytical argument based on the tenets of the Quaker faith discussed in class. Corey began, “This makes my head hurt. It’s giving me physical pain. I feel sick to my stomach reading this because this guy: (I’ll refer to him as sir homophobe) says that modernizing Christianity to meet selfish desires is immoral. Is love a selfish desire?” In these first few lines Corey reveals her passion for LGBTQ issues and employs the language of the press release statement by questioning its assertion of love as an immoral selfish desire. Corey continued by using Quakerism’s fundamental principles of belief about the nature of god and sacred texts to upend claims made in the press release: “Yeah, I understand your religion and how Jesus said you can’t be gay, but I thought the Bible was just a guideline… and not the word of God…hm. Did God tell you not to be gay? To shun homosexuals? To exclude them and make them seem like animals? Oh yeah, I didn’t think so.” Here, Corey references the Quaker belief in the Bible as a guideline rather than absolute truth. Furthermore, she notes the Quaker belief in the “inner light” or “that of god” residing in everyone, as she questions whether the Kenyan Quaker leader was guided by god through his “inner light” to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. Near her sign-off, Corey explained her strong reaction and interest in this lesson as she discloses, “I have Allies today so I’m pretty worked up about this whew I need to chill.” Corey’s high level of critical engagement with the content of this lesson stemmed not only from her interest and passion for issues related to sexuality, but also from the personal relevance of this lesson to her life. Read the complete transcript of Corey’s response here:
coreys_response_to_case_studies_in_african_christianity_lesson.docx | |
File Size: | 80 kb |
File Type: | docx |